have a 99 hatch on stock shocks(temporarily) on h&r races. sometimes when i turn the wheel all the way over, in either direction, i hear a SINGLE rather loud pop. not repeated softer clicking like a bad CV. it can happen when sitting still or moving and the noise vanishes whenever the weight of the car is taken off the front wheels. springs were installed correctly, i believe. narrower coils up top, flattened coils on the bottom, writing right-side up, bottom coil snug against it's "stopper"(?) lol. any ideas? thanks...

 

dang, sounds like what I'm experiencing, although mine is repeated smaller "pops", more like a creaking sound when I turn the wheel. When the wheels are off the ground, no noise.

I'm pretty sure it's my ball joints, but not sure if upper or lower. It started while I had these cheap eBay control arms on. I put my old ones back on but it was still making the noise. I'm going to check my lower ball joints soon (which are also new as of last November), they might need some grease added or something.

The shock/spring assembly doesn't move when you turn the wheels, so I'm pretty positive that's not your problem.

 

If the car makes the sound while standing still, I suggest you have a friend crank the steering wheel while you hunt around underneath with your ears. I understand you won't be able to lift the car up, but you should be able to pinpoint the suspect area by listening. Then inspect all ball-joints, steering gearbox joints, and bushings.

Also, it helps to check for any play in the suspension by jacking up the front and have your friend shake each tire left-right & up-down. While he/she is doing that you crawl around underneath listening/looking for any play/slop. Keep in mind that the rack & pinion inside the steering gearbox will make a little noise when doing this, but it should be very minimal. After you do this, let us know what you find...

 

if the car is stopped and it makes that noise, i've found it to be the steering rack... solved the problem on my dads old 90 camry (struts), my moms old 96 pontiac van (struts) and my 95 civic (shocks)...

but I imagine your accord has the same "Style" suspension as the RSX's, which are known to have a factory defect. When you lower them, the springs will bind somehow and make creaking noises... The only way is to get a full coilover suspension iirc...

and BTW, coils are supposed to bind

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FalkenSiR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if the car is stopped and it makes that noise, i've found it to be the steering rack... solved the problem on my dads old 90 camry (struts), my moms old 96 pontiac van (struts) and my 95 civic (shocks)...

but I imagine your accord has the same "Style" suspension as the RSX's, which are known to have a factory defect. When you lower them, the springs will bind somehow and make creaking noises... The only way is to get a full coilover suspension iirc...

and BTW, coils are supposed to bind </TD></TR></TABLE>

He has a 99 Civic, which has coilover-type shocks which are completely separate from the hub/spindle that turns when the steering wheel is turned. The springs and shocks do not move when the steering wheel is turned. The only parts that actually move against other parts (which would even have the possibility of binding) when turning the steering wheel is the steering rack, and the upper and lower ball joints.

 

so crawled up under again today with someone jiggling wheels/turning the steering wheel and was able to simulate the noise a few times but still rather inconclusive. it sounds like it might be the upper ball joints or possibly the rack? however, the upper ball joints are brand spankin new due to skunk2 front cambers that have only been on for a few weeks. today i sprayed down upper/lower ball joints and tie rod ends down with wd-40 and then greased them up, turned the steering wheel lock to lock a few times to work in the grease, but the noise is still there - greased was used when installing them also. i was pulling on everything i could get my hands on under the car and everything seemed solid with very little play. on a side note, my upper coils are nearly sitting on top of each other, is that normal? thanks for the help guys...

 

How did you "grease" the ball-joints without disassembling the suspension? Did you just smear grease all over the rubber boots? If so, that isn't gonna do anything anyways...

I would venture a guess that one of the castle nuts isn't on all the way. They won't seem loose since they are staked in place by a cotter pin. And depending on how the ball-joint is loaded, it might seem tight even when it's not...

The steering rack shouldn't be a problem unless the boots are torn open. Either that or the rack needs the tension spring adjusted. I would just go through all the suspension checks in the Helms manual. If there is a problem, you will be able to find it with that book. Suspension noises can take a long time to track down...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 03akkord5spd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">on a side note, my upper coils are nearly sitting on top of each other, is that normal? thanks for the help guys...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Those are the progressive coils on the H&R Race springs. They serve like a "helper" spring to keep the spring from bouncing around when the suspension is unloaded, but when load is put on it, they just stack together and become "dead" coils, with infinite spring rate on that portion.

 

yea so yesterday i continued the investigation and it appeared that the sound was coming from my passenger upper ball joint, it also seemed to be a little loose. so went around tightening up both upper/lower ball joints and a-arms and no more noise! hope it's a permanent fix. thanks again for the help...

 

awesome man, I finally figured out the noise I was experiencing also, finally! I think one of my lower ball joint castle nuts wasn't tightened down all the way. The cotter pin was there keeping it from coming off, but it just wasn't tight enough and I guess was causing the creaking sound when turning the steering wheel.